


The Law of Equivalent Exchange

by Squid_Ink



Series: Glue and Duct Tape [7]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: A soul for a soul, Endgame Fix-It Fic, F/M, I basically had that song on loop while writing this, I liked Age of Ultron better than Endgame, Out of the Darkness - My Indigo, Russos need to pay attention to their universal laws, Soul Stone, Spoilers, endgame spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-15 23:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18679057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squid_Ink/pseuds/Squid_Ink
Summary: A soul for a soul, that is the price for the Soul Stone. To gain the soul stone, something that which you love must be sacrificed for something that you want. It would stand to reason that returning the Soul Stone would work the same way but in reverse; sacrificing what you want in order to gain something that you loved. At least, Steve hopes it does.





	The Law of Equivalent Exchange

When Nebula had said Vormir was at the heart of celestial existence, he did not expect the planet to be like this. A world of eternal twilight caught between sunrise and sunset. Purple shadows stretching out cross dunes of sand (he assumed it was sand). There was a lake, vast and glassy smooth, black as the night. One mountain stood sentinel, a silent looming guardian at the heart of the alien landscape. "Last stone," he said, clutching the brief case a little tighter and heading to the mountain. Behind him was a flash of light.

The landscape turned snowing and he reached the halfway point of the mountain. "Of all the people I had to guide, never once did I expect to see you here" — like a phantom from a nightmare, the Red Skull manifested in a swirl of shadows and rags — "Captain America."

"Schmidt," he said, looking at his former nemesis. "So, this is what happened to you. I thought the tesseract killed you."

"It had seemed that the tesseract had… other plans for me," Schmidt said, inclining his head to the path. "Welcome, Steven son of Joseph."

"How do you know my father's name?" he asked. Could Schmidt see inside his head? Did he know what happened? What was this place anyway? It was alien yet familiar. It felt like the state he was in while frozen. A world between life and death.

"I'm granted knowledge of many things, Captain, as keeper of the Soul Stone," Schmidt said, "like you're correct in thinking that this is a world between life and death."

"You can read my mind?" Steve tensed. If the Red Skull could read his mind, then he may be unable to fulfill his mission. He had just enough Pym particles to get home. He could have done it differently. He could have returned the stones in a different order; had a life with Peggy before going back. But she had a life, he saw the pictures of her husband and family. To deny her that would be cruel and selfish on his part. That wasn't the type of man he was.

Clint had said: A soul for a soul.

So maybe… He gripped the brief case tighter. "Then you now why I am here."

"Yes." Schmidt nodded and turned, floating along the path. He followed, blinking against the icy sting of the wind and snow, his lungs taking in great gulps of the frigid air. At the top was the Alter of Souls. The great ethereal landscape of Vormir stretched before him as he stood beneath the twin spires. He opened the brief case and plucked the orange stone from its foam cradle. The tiny stone hummed in his palm. It knew it was home. "A soul for a soul, right?" he asked.

"That is the law," Schmidt said. "Though of course those seeking the Soul Stone never bring it back."

"How many were able to pay the price?" He turned the stone over in his fingers. The other stones were easy to put back, as if it was the right thing to do. Yet, for some reason he was reluctant to put this stone back. The reason why eluded him. Maybe it was fear or maybe it was anger that she had to be the one to do it.

"The choice is yours Captain," Schmidt said, gesturing the cliff's edge. Wind swirled around him, sounding like the screams of ten thousand people falling to their deaths. The Soul Stone glinted in the gloaming. Rocks crunched beneath his boots as he walked to the edge and looked at the bottom.

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," he whispered, a shuddering breath escaping him as he took a step back, looking away. Tears stung the corner of his eyes and he shook, biting his lip to keep it from trembling. "Tell me Schmidt," he said. He held up the Soul Stone. "This is a soul, right?"

"A physical manifestation of it, yes, it is a soul. The soul of the universe. Existence cannot happen without a soul." The wind ruffled his cloak or maybe it was the eldritch wind that did. Steve couldn't tell. He wrapped his fingers around the tiny stone.

"A soul for a soul." He stepped back to the edge and dropped the Soul Stone over the edge. There was a rush of wind and opalescent light, a bang like an explosion and he was engulfed in light.

For a moment time hung still. Each breath a life time, each heartbeat ten thousand. Before his eyes he saw the different strands of his life play out before him. One where he never received the serum and he collected scrap metal in his little red wagon. Another where he managed to save himself and went on to marry Peggy. Another where he fell in love with Sharon. Endless possibilities, endless lifetimes. The children he didn't have. The things he didn't experience because he made this choice or that. All of them in a blink yet stretching on for ten thousand years.

The wet chill of the lake brought him back to the present. The half-light glow of Vormir caused him to blink and he then realized something heavy in his arms, the deaden sensation in his legs. "Natasha?" his voice shook, tears burned in his eyes and he stared at her in his arms. She was whole, her skull wasn't smashed in by the impact, her chest rose and fell with each breath. It was as if she was only sleeping. "Natasha." He ran his finger along her cheek, she felt warm.

A soft moan escaped her and her eyes fluttered opened, bright and vivid as the forest. When her hand caressed his cheek, he leaned into her touch and kissed the heel of her palm. "Steve?" she brushed a tear from his cheek. "What…"

"I thought I lost you," he whispered. "We all did. Clint said it was permanent. But—"

"A soul for a soul." She smiled. "I'm sorry… but I—"

He hugged her tight. "No, whatever it took." He nuzzled her hair, drinking in that familiar scent of mint and cucumber. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he rocked back and forth with her in his arms. "I love you," he whispered. "I love you so much, Natasha." If his life was leading him anywhere it was to this moment. After all the heartache, all the pain and misery. The life he lost by going into the ice, the friends he lost in the Snap. The unborn child… "I love—"

Natasha kissed him. There was a hint of blood in her mouth, probably left over from when her teeth cut her cheek from the impact, her cherry flavored chapstick (a quirk about her he adored). "I know," she said, and gave him another peck. "But I want to go home now." She stood up and offered him her hand. He took it, welcoming the assist to his feet. He watched her face fell. The device on her hand was broken. "It broke during the fall" — she frowned — "do you have enough Pym particles for both of us?"

"No." He took the small device off his hand and slipped it onto hers. Natasha opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head. "No. Natasha, you go back, tells the others to come get me. I can survive longer without food and water. Go home, tell everyone where I am. I'll be fine." He cupped her cheek. "We did it. I was returning the stones and… well, I wasn't sure this would work."

She swallowed. "Steve—"

"You're not throwing me off a cliff. Go. Get Carol to get me or Rocket and Nebula. Scott would work too. But you need to go home." He kissed her brow, smiling a little at the feel of her skin against his lips.

"You sure about this?" she asked. He nodded. "Who did we lose?"

"Tony."

"I'll be back." She gave him one last hug before vanishing. The wind swirled around him and he trudged out of the water. He didn't know how long he had to wait, but there wasn't anywhere he could go that Natasha wouldn't be able to find him. The planet only had one notable feature. So, he headed back up the mountain to where the Red Skull was waiting.

"Why are you still here?" Schmidt asked.

Steve gave a little shrug, a small smile on his face. "Can't go home yet." He sat down on a boulder. For a long moment he stared at Schmidt. In many ways the man was still the same as he remembered back in 1945. Hideous, with the red skeletal face, grabbed in black and the manic look in his eyes. There was a subtle difference. A frustration at being cursed to this athanasia existence, guiding people to a treasure he could not grasp. "Zola's dead."

"I figured."

"You would've been proud of him," he said, leaning back against the rockface. "Proud of your little… group."

"Oh?" Schmidt tilted his head, his skeletal crimson face expressionless. "And why would I be? Go on, tell me Captain. What news do you bring of my former home?"

"I died for nothing. Hydra grew right under everyone's nose," he said. "Your dreams were almost achieved." It was a bit uncharacteristic of him, but he had to gloat. "I stopped it."

"Oh of course you did," Schmidt said, exasperated. "But you still don't understand, Captain. Cut of one head, two more will take its place."

"We, the Avengers, mopped up Hydra. There are no heads left."

"There are always heads, Captain," Schmidt said, "I made sure Hydra would survive. As long as there are men like you, there will be men like me. Hydra may be disorganized and leaderless now, but it's not gone. It's never gone."

A chill wormed its way down his spine. Everyone believed that after the Red Skull's death Hydra was dead. Peggy had told him that they had arrested or killed the remaining forces of Schmidt's army, but Zola proved that Hydra didn't need an army. The Avengers had stopped von Strucker, but how many more escaped noticed. How many more changed their colors back to something less poisonous to escape the gaze of the Avengers. Hydra had survived seventy years in the shadows, laying dormant until Pierce decided to activate Project Insight. "Then we'll put a stop to them too."

"Always another war to fight, Captain?" Schmidt asked, a sneering smile spreading across his face. "I shall continue my amaranthine duty a little lighter now, knowing that I may have lost a few battles but will ultimately win the war."

"You won't." Steve turned to see Natasha walking up the path. "We'll find them and stop them. Just like we did last time. Hercules did kill the Hydra."

"You're a fool," Schmidt said, "to waste your life on an endless war." Natasha smiled, shaking her head at him and handing over a small little device to Steve. "Remember the price you paid for your victory."

"I will," she said, taking Steve's hand. "You ready to go home?" she asked.

"Home," he whispered, savoring the word on his tongue. It had been so long since he had a place to call home. Family. Friends. A future. "Marry me?"

"This is hardly the place to ask that question, Steve," she said, though a smile threatened to break free. "You need a ring for one."

"I can get one when we get back," he said. "But after this… after… let's get married. We can have a long engagement, I don't care. But I want to marry you. Everything… Thanos, it all put into perspective a lot of things for me. One of them is you." He licked his lips. "I lost one love in my life, I…. I don't know what I would have done if I had to go through all those long years without you. I don't think I would've been able to do it."

"I'm here now Steve," she whispered, the wind tugging at the strands of her hair. He nodded, but even though she was alive and before him, he still felt like he would lose her. That this was all a dream. "I won't disappear."

"I know, but still… I've lost so much, I don't think I can lose anymore."

"Then I'll marry you, but you have to at least get me ring, something cliché" — a teasing half-smirk tugging at her lips — "because you're terribly old fashion sometimes, Steve."

He laughed, kissing her cheek. "On three?"

"On three." She placed her hand over the button as he did.

"Three… two… one…"

**Author's Note:**

> MCU (c) Marvel Studios
> 
>  
> 
> Yeah, I saw Endgame today. Bawled my eyes out. Unhappy with what they did to Steve and pissed off for what they did to Natasha. Obviously, the Russos forgot that they established the law of equivalent exchange for the Soul Stone. So, the obvious and logical solution to this is when Steve gave the Soul Stone back, he got Natasha's soul back. 
> 
> The Red Skull told Thanos (Clint and Nat too), a soul for a soul. So, it would stand to reason that when Steve gave the Soul Stone back he would get a soul back, because he exchanged a soul (the Soul Stone) for a soul (Natasha's soul). Just like when you buy something, don't like it/don't want it anymore, you go back to the store, return it and the store gives you your money back. That's how it works. So, it stands to reason that the currency (souls), would operate on the same principle. You give a soul for the Soul Stone; you give the Soul Stone back you get the same soul you paid with back. 
> 
> Remember kids: Always be aware of your universal laws. It'll make things like character death more lasting.
> 
> So yeah, Endgame is… as I told my brother, I rather was Age of Ultron than Endgame.
> 
> Save an author; leave a review.


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